A downrigger is a fishing implement used in conjunction with a regular fishing rod when deep water fishing on the Great Lakes and the oceans. The typical downrigger has a line wound on a manually or electrically operated reel. A heavy weight is placed at the end of the downrigger line which extends from the reel. Further, the downrigger line is detachably fastened to a fishing line having a fish hook with bait or a lure affixed to it.
Both the downrigger line and the fishing line are lowered into the water to a desired depth. When a fish is hooked, the fishing line is separated from the downrigger line as a consequence of the fish pulling on the fish hook to free itself. The fisherman may then play the fish without having the downrigger weight to contend with along with the fish.
As is well known, many species of fish prefer known temperatures. Areas providing such temperatures can be quite deep, especially in the Great Lakes or oceans. Correspondingly, when fishing at such depths, the fisherman cannot see fish approach and strike the lure.
When fishing, it is desirable to have the ability to view the fish. Besides adding excitement to the fishing experience, viewing the fish provides a record in case the fish escapes.
Care must be taken, however, in providing a downrigger line and a device suitable for transmitting real-time images about the lure. In particular, the line must be of a relatively small diameter to fit on a compact trolling reel suitable for the sport fisherman. Further, the tensile strength must be relatively high since significant tension forces are placed on the line when it is payed out a significant distance and especially if the line becomes snagged.
Moreover, a suitable coupling scheme must be employed between the line and the image transmitting device, such as an underwater camera. The coupling scheme must securely retain the connection between the camera and the electrical conductors provided by the line for transmitting images.
Furthermore, the coupling scheme should provide strain relief between the line and the camera to prolong the life of the line. Moreover, the coupling scheme should transfer any pulling forces to the camera without applying these forces to the electrical conductors.
It is also desirable that the connection system allow for easy attachment of the line to the camera and prevent inadvertent uptake of the line.
Correspondingly, the present invention provides a system which satisfies the above-discussed criteria while providing tension relief for a cable suitable pulling an underwater camera and having image signal transfer capability.